All My Heroes
by dsakitad
Summary: Cece has been gifted with some marvelous powers that just may come in handy for the Avengers. She wants nothing more than to help as many people as she can…without ending up in a lab herself. When she gets recruited by the team, she finds that she can finally do what she wants without having to look over her shoulder at every turn. Only along the way, she catches the feels for a ce
1. Prologue

This starts at the end of Civil War. The goal of this story is to fix the mistakes of Infinity War, because there's no reason why our hearts needed to be ripped out of our chests.  
There are Civil War spoilers.

Work Text:

Steve Rogers was feeling substantial amounts of guilt. He couldn't help but feel responsible for what happened to Rhodey. Although Steve wasn't the one who had sent the blast that paralyzed the Colonel, he knew that it would not have happened if he had signed those damn accords. No, he didn't regret not signing them…he knew he did the right thing by following what he believed. What he wasn't okay with (nor prepared for) were the severe consequences. Hadn't they already lost enough?  
"Steve?"

Steve looked up from his lap to the troubled eyes of his lifelong friend…a friend he never thought he would have again. "Yes, Buck?"  
"You're thinking about what Nat told you about Colonel Rhodes, aren't you, Punk?" The nickname came second nature from the assassin, but it did manage to bring a weak smile to the Captain's lips. There weren't words that could explain what it was like to have his 'Till the end of the Line' bud back, even if it's been 70 years.  
James "Bucky" Barnes took his friend's silence as a sign his assumption was correct. He personally didn't feel too torn up over the casualty because that is what happened in the war, look at his own arm. But that didn't mean that Steve would see it the same way. His moral compass always was the stronger one of the two. Bucky did things because he was expected to, but Steve's actions were driven by a need to make the world a better place. If there was a way to check, Bucky would bet his right arm that Steve didn't have a selfish bone in his body.  
Quickly checking their surroundings to make sure they were alone and once satisfied, Bucky stood over Steve with his arms crossed over his chest. "Have I told you yet how I was able to get free from Hydra's control over my body?"  
Out of anything that Bucky could have said, that was one of the last things Steve had expected to come out of his mouth. "Sheer power and determination?" It may have sounded like a sarcastic answer, but it wasn't. It was just the best answer that automatically filled the blanks in his head.  
Bucky chuckled darkly, shaking his head. "No. Hydra has a way of breaking the human spirit beyond repair. Not even God himself could have broken the control."  
That didn't make sense, Steve thought to himself. His thoughts must have been transferred to the look on his face because Bucky gave him a sympathetic smile before grabbing a cheaply made plastic chair to sit backward in. Resting his arms over the back, he leaned forward a little bit, as if he was about to tell a secret. "It wasn't me. It wasn't God. It was someone who has the power to alter the connections in your body, whether that's to fix or mutilate."  
Steve felt confused. That sounded like an incredibly dangerous person who should be found and dealt with before they went off the deep end and took out everyone within a 100-mile radius. "How's that even possible, Buck? What does this person have to do with you gaining control over your own actions?"  
"It has everything to do with how I regained control over my own body and mind," Bucky answered patiently, his eyes going out of focus, clearly remembering the past. "She found me while I was on a mission in Botswana. Apparently, she was making her rounds around random villages in Africa, wanting to help those who couldn't get any from anywhere else or couldn't afford it."  
Steve furrowed his brow, crossing his arms over his chest and leaned back in the creaky chair. For a second, he thought the back was going to break and his stomach dropped before he immediately recalibrated and sat up straight, hands resting on his knees. "Doctors Without Borders then?" he questioned, trying to keep on top of the story.  
Bucky snorted, clearly amused by Steve's question. "God no. They would be so lucky to have such a person in their ranks. No, this woman Steve, she keeps to herself for her own protection. If word got out about her abilities, she would be taken hostage and used until she killed herself from exertion or was killed for not complying to another's orders. She doesn't take too kindly to being ordered around. It's kind of funny actually, seeing this 5'3 dame give a 6'4 man sass and put them in their place."

"You're obviously very fond of her," Steve mused, stroking his chin in thought trying to picture this woman in his mind.  
Bucky had an easy-going smile on his face as he remembered the woman who saved him from himself. "She's an angel," he agreed, not even having to think about it. "I was at a safe house in Botswana when she came across me. She said that the amount of damage done to my mind was nearly palpable. So she somehow managed to knock me, a highly-trained assassin, out and dragged me to her place of residence. She didn't have much, just a small room with a bed and a backpack with scrubs and some other clothes that were appropriate for the area. With essentially no resources, she was able to get into my head and removed every single piece of shit that Hydra had put in me. Not even my trigger words would work-"  
"Then how come you were triggered when Zemo spoke them to you?"  
"Acting, Steve," Bucky was patient as ever, not minding that his story was once again interrupted. "We would have never know what he was planning unless he thought that I had….reverted, for lack of a better term, back to the empty slate of my mind."  
Steve nodded thoughtfully at this information, impressed with how far his friend would go to see a mission through to the end. "So she is able to clear someone's mind of mental blocks, or does it go further than that?"  
"So much more. More than either you or myself could ever comprehend." His dark eyes drifted towards the ceiling, bringing the memories of their conversations to the forefront of his mind. "When I asked, she said that she could literally see all the different connections in your body, whether that's the blood vessels, nerves or in my case, the neurons in my brain. Not only does she seem them, but she knows how every single connection is supposed to look and work and she can alter any part of those connections with little more than a thought. If I had to guess, I would say it goes even deeper than that."  
Steve shifted uncomfortably in his chair, feeling once again nervous having someone so powerful running around without any sort of check and/or balances. "Do you know if she ever-"  
Bucky held up a hand, effectively cutting the Captain off. "She's not a danger to anyone. She would never, not even unintentionally, hurt someone. She took an oath a long time ago to do no harm." He gently placed his hand over Steve's thigh, cutting off Steve's thought. "She only wants two things in this life. She wants to help those she is able to and not be caught. She took a huge risk in helping me, especially if Hydra caught word of someone who was able to take advantage of those connections."  
After a quiet moment of thought, Steve spoke up. "How do we find her?"

Hope you enjoyed! Please leave feedback! I live off of that!

You can find this originally posted on Tumblr ds-akita-d


	2. Chapter One

On the other side of the world in a small tribe in Tanzania, was a woman chasing children around an open field.

"Miss Cece! Come catch me!" a young boy yelled, running in the opposite direction.

Despite having been at this game for well over thirty minutes in the hot humid weather, Cecelia managed to keep a smile on her face as she ran around, trying to keep up with the children's endless energy.

It wasn't often that she could act in such a carefree manner. Usually, she had to stay alert and on her toes to make sure her secrets were protected. She could never stay in one place for too long without gaining suspicion of how people around her, who were on the previously sick, were now magically healed. This is why she liked to travel among the small villages because word of her existence never went far. Also, it wasn't like the people she was helping out here were going to go out and tell others of the mysterious woman. Not like when she decided to visit Russia. As soon as she helped rid a 73-year-old man of a brain aneurysm that hadn't ruptured yet, word of her had spread throughout the country within 72 hours.

She was lucky to have been in this village for the last three weeks. By this point in time, she had already helped anyone who needed and wanted it. She was set to leave the following morning to the next village but did allow herself one final day to just enjoy life.

Arms wrapped around her shoulders, making her realize that she had stopped running around and was standing stationary, eyes mindlessly looking at the grassy plains. She glanced down to see that it was Michael, her older brother that traveled with her as her "protection". Her parents were nervous to have her going out by herself, but when her ex-marine brother offered to accompany her, they were less worried about her getting into trouble.

A quick glance around made her realize that the children that had been out there were now gone. _Just how long have I been lost in my thoughts,_ she thought idly to herself.

"Just a heads up that a quinjet is arriving," Michael told her, pointing to the east. "I haven't told you because I wanted it to be a surprise, but an old friend is paying a visit." His eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled down at her. Unlike her, he was tanned from hours of being out in the sun, day in and day out. For her, it didn't matter how much time she spent out in the sun, she would always ridiculously pale (or at least in her mind). Michael also had a good 6 inches on her own 5'3 stature. His dark red hair was cut in the standard military fashion whereas hers, when free, hung in curls of deep red, down to the middle of her back. However, she usually had it tied up in a messy top-knot to keep it out of her face. Also similar to Michael were her deep green eyes that often reminded her of emeralds. Those eyes were usually the first thing people noticed about them.

"I wonder who it is," she thought out loud, stepping away from her brothers embrace, lifting her arm to shield her eyes from the powerful winds that came off from the jet as it touched down on the ground. Of course, she had a guess as to who was on the jet because not many people had access to that kind of aircraft, but she wasn't one to assume things.

As soon as the engine were powered down, Cece stepped forward, her brother shadowing her, to greet the pair of men who were climbing out of the back.

When Cece's eyes fell on a familiar figure, she couldn't help but run up for him, launching herself into his arms. Bucky, having expected this reaction from the eccentric woman, was quick to catch her, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Well, as I live and breathe! Sergeant Barnes, it's great to see you!"

Bucky pulled away, scowling at the word sergeant, releasing the woman to allow her to slide back to the ground. " _Doctor Thompson_ , you know you should call me Bucky."

Though his face showed he was mildly irritated with her antics, she knew it was nothing but a show for the tall…strong…handso-

Cece shook her head, trying to rid it of the thoughts she was having about Bucky's best friend. Though she had never met Steve Rogers before, she knew of him from Bucky's stories. She also knew better than to judge the first impression of someone on their physical appearance, especially when she looks a mess half the time herself. She knew she was supposed to judge based on character, but damn if this man wasn't carved by God himself.

" _Sergeant Bucky_ , you know to call me Cece," she sassed right back, giving Michael a wink when he scoffed at her, used to her teasing ways. Her eyes trailed back to the blond man, offering him a welcoming smile. "You must be Steve Rogers."

The man blushed when she acknowledged him, not knowing what to expect when meeting this woman and was clearly surprised at how… bold this woman was. He would have never guessed that someone could act so casual around himself and the Winter Soldier. Most people were intimidated by their presence alone. But this woman, she acted informally around them…and it was refreshing.

Bucky threw an elbow into Steve's ribs, causing him to grunt on impact. That's when Steve realized that he was staring and the woman was holding her hand out for him to take. He quickly grabbed her small and in his own, shaking it earnestly, blushing as he did so. "Dr. Cecelia," he acknowledged with a nod of his head. The man that stood close behind her was watching him with calculating eyes and a small glare. He cleared his throat making Steve realize that he was still holding onto the woman's hand, which he promptly let go of, his hand immediately going to rub the back of his neck in a nervous manner.

Bucky was watching the interaction with amusement. To him, it would never get old seeing Steve get flustered over a pretty dame. Reminded him of a different time. "Steve, this guy hovering behind Cece is her elder brother, Michael Thompson. He's ex-military like us."

Michael grunted when Bucky introduced him, forcing himself to keep a smile off of his face. On the inside, he was secretly fangirling over meeting the Captain America who had been his favorite hero since he was and saw his first Captain America cartoon.

Cece, knowing this, smirked over her shoulder at him, causing him to scowl at her. In turn, she smiled sweetly at him before turning her attention to the two newcomers. "Well, I don't know about y'all, but I could use a drink to cool down from this humidity. Then you," she directed her gaze to Bucky, "can tell me what brings you here."

Hope you enjoyed! Please leave feedback! I live off of that! You can find this originally posted on Tumblr ds-akita-d


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